The method and the apparatus disclosed herein are used particularly in a vehicle, e.g. in a motor vehicle. The method and the apparatus are not limited to this use, however. On the contrary, the apparatus and the method can be employed in arbitrary appliances, particularly portable appliances, such as a music player, a mobile telephone or a mobile navigation system.
A motor vehicle contains various information and communication areas which have associated display instruments. These are used to inform the driver and passengers. In addition, they can assist the driver in navigation or in communication with the outside world. The display can visually present traffic-related or operational-related data, in particular, from the vehicle. Arranged in proximity to the primary field of vision of the driver is what is known as the combined instrument. Usually, this is in the cockpit behind the steering wheel, where it can be seen through an opening in the steering wheel. It is used particularly to display the speed, the tank content, the radiator temperature and other operation-related information from the motor vehicle. In addition, radio and audio functions can be presented. Finally, menus for telephone, navigation, telematics services and multimedia applications can be displayed. The display used is usually liquid-crystal displays in various disclosed embodiments.
As a further display device, a vehicle frequently has a multifunctional display in the central console or above the central console, which has an associated operator control element. Such a multifunctional operator control element is described in DE 199 41 955 A1, for example.
In order to present the many and diverse operator-control and display options clearly, hierarchic menu structures are frequently used. A menu displays various menu items and possibly graphics or icons associated with the menu items. When a menu item is selected, a submenu having further submenu items opens. This structure can be continued over a plurality of hierarchy levels. Furthermore, instead of a submenu, a menu item may have an associated particular display image which presents the information associated with the menu item.
Very specific demands on the structure of the display arise for the display of information in a motor vehicle. The reason is that the information needs to be displayed such that the information can also be assimilated easily and intuitively by the driver of the motor vehicle. In particular, the assimilation of information by the driver should not result in distraction during the trip.
DE 10 2007 039 442 A1 discloses a method for displaying information in a motor vehicle in which graphical objects are presented in an arrangement on a virtual ring presented in perspective and in which an input by a user prompts the graphics data to be altered such that the objects rotate on the virtual ring in the manner of a carousel.
When a user interface is intended to be made available in combination with an appliance which comprises a relatively small display panel, the problem arises that it is not possible to present graphical symbols for every object on the display panels in the case of a set having a large number of objects. In such a case, only a subset of such a set forming a list is, therefore, displayed. The user can produce scrolling in the list by means of an operator control process. So that the user can orient himself better within the total set or the list, it is known practice to additionally display a graphical element which visually displays what is currently displayed for a subset within the total set. Such a graphical element is a scrollbar, for example, in which a strip or a bar represents the total set and a marker firstly visually displays a position of the currently displayed subset within the total set and secondly visually displays the size of the displayed subset relative to the total set. Such a scrollbar may also be in the form of a button, with the result that the user can select the subset to be displayed using the scrollbar by virtue of cursor control or by means of a touch-sensitive surface on the display panel.
A conventional scrollbar admittedly allows the subset that is to be displayed to be selected arbitrarily within an ordered subset of objects. However, when the method or the apparatus is used in an environment in which it is important for an operator control process to be able to be performed quickly and for the operator control process to demand as little attentiveness from the user as possible, it is desirable for the method or the apparatus to be matched to these conditions. Particularly in the case of use in a vehicle, the method or the apparatus should be matched to the specific requirements for this use.